Art gallery dedicated to journalist

ANTALYA

Fikret Otyam (center) cuts the opening ribbon of the art gallery of his name with guests of the ceremony.

Municipal authorities in Antalya opened a new art gallery yesterday in honor of journalist, writer and painter Fikret Otyam in the southern province of Antalya.

Journalists Yalçın Bayer, Doğan Hızlan, Nebil Özgentürk and poet Ataol Behramoğlu were among the guests of the ceremony.

The Fikret Otyam Art Gallery, opened in Antalya’s historical Demirciler İçi Bazaar, played host to the screening of a documentary on Otyam’s life for the first time in Turkey.

Otyam’s interviews

Delivering a speech at the ceremony, Behramoğlu said their generation had greatly loved Otyam’s interviews.

“His interviews that he called ‘Gide Gide’ are one of the most respected examples of merging journalism with literary talent,” he said, describing Otyam as the “painter of joy of living.”

Otyam said he was very happy about the event. “There is something called ‘fidelity’ and it is today shown to make a person happy. I read the signboard, saying ‘Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Demirciler İçi Fikret Otyam Art Gallery,’ and I don’t know how to express my gratitude.”

Antalya Mayor Mustafa Akaydın said Otyam’s family was a big gift for Antalya. The gallery displays paintings by Otyam and works by his wife, Filiz Otyam, who is a textile artist.